Dr. Akhlesh Lakhtakia, Charles Godfrey Binder Professor in Engineering Science and Mechanics, will be participating in a National Science Foundation panel on Nanotechnology on December 4, 2008 in Washington, DC.

Dr. Mirna Urquidi-Macdonald, professor of engineering science and mechanics, has been appointed to the National Research Council's (NRC's) Research Opportunities in Corrosion Science and Engineering (ROCSE) Committee.

Engineering Science and Mechanics has developed and is now offering a new course, E MCH 597 B, Structural Health Monitoring. Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is the continuous or regular monitoring of the condition of a structure or system using built-in or autonomous sensory systems, and any resultant intervention to preserve structural integrity. SHM is a broad multidisciplinary field both in terms of the diverse science and technology involved as well as in its varied applications.

Students will prepare to work in the multidisciplinary field of structural health monitoring by learning fundamental issues about material damage and modeling, sensing technologies, and diagnostic methods as applied to aerospace, civil, and mechanical structures and systems.

Dr. Cliff Lissenden, Associate Professor in Engineering Science and Mechanics, will be instructing the course in the spring and will be bringing in multiple experts in the field to serve as guest speakers to reinforce concepts.

Professor Patrick Lenahan, Distinguished Professor in Engineering Science and Mechanics, will attend and chair part of IEEE Semiconductor Interface Specialist Conference on December 10 - 14, 2008. The meeting will be held in San Diego, CA. To learn more about the conference, please visit their web site.

On December 2 - 4, 2008, Dr. Cliff Lissenden, Associate Professor in Engineering Science and Mechanics, and Dr. Joseph Rose, Paul Morrow Professor in Engineering Science and Mechanics will present a paper titled “Guided Wave Feature Identification for Monitoring Structural Damage in Joints Between Composite Laminates,” at the 2nd Asia-Pacific Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring in Melborne, Australia.

Charles Bakis, distinguished professor of engineering science and mechanics, has been named a Fellow of the International Institute for Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) Composites in Construction (IIFC).

According to the IIFC Web site, fellows are senior members of the institute who have achieved a position of high responsibility and have contributed significantly to the advancement of the field through research or practice or both.

Since joining Penn State in 1988, Bakis has focused his research on the design, manufacturing, test and analysis of fiber-reinforced composite materials for lightweight structures and concrete reinforcement.

He received his bachelor of science in mechanical engineering from Lehigh University and his master of science and doctoral degrees in engineering mechanics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute.

Established in 2003, the IIFC aims to advance the understanding and the application of FRP composites in the civil infrastructure, in the service of the engineering profession and society.

Dr. Osama Awadelkarim, Professor in Engineering Science and Mechanics, is to deliver a lecture on “Physical, Material Sciences, and Engineering Science Diplomacy with African Nations” as part of the Jefferson Science Fellows Distinguished Lecture Series on Current Issues in Science and Technology. The lecture, scheduled for November 21, 2008 hosted at the Department of State in Washington.

Kate Barber, Undergraduate student in Engineering Science under the advising of Dr. Judith Todd, P.B. Breneman Department Head Chair, pictured here with State Representative Art Hershey with her poster on Design and Analysis of an Endoscopic Suturing Instrument. Kate traveled to the Capitol to attend an Undergraduate Research meeting.

Dr. Cliff Lissenden, Associate Professor in Engineering Science and Mechanics, is hosting the fall 2008 Center of Excellence in Structural Health Monitoring on November 3 and 4 on the Penn State campus.

Presentations will be given by Penn State researchers and Center members along with keynote speaker John Johns, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Eric Lindgren, Air Force Research Laboratory, Douglas Adams, Purdue University, Shuang Jin and Frank Jalinoos, Federal Highway Administration, and Robert Sargent, Booz Alan Hamilton.

For more information about the meeting, please visit this web site.

Dr. Barbara Shaw, Professor in Engineering Science and Mechanics, has been selected to receive the 2009 NACE Fellow Honor. NACE has established the honor of Fellow of the Association to provide recognition of members for distinguished contributions in the fields of corrosion and its prevention and to develop a broadly based forum for technical and professional leaders to serve as advisors to the Association.

Dr. Shaw was chosen for her sustained contributions she has made to corrosion control over her career. She will receive the award during a presentation at the 2009 Corrosion conference in Atlanta, Georgia from March 22 - 26.

To learn more about NACE, please visit their web site.